US west coast dockworkers in 1-day strike 'over Iraq': union

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Around 25,000 workers at 29 ports along the western US coastline went on strike on Thursday to demand an end to the war in Iraq, union officials said.

The International Longshore and Warehouse Union said in a statement on its website that longshore workers across the region had downed tools in what it described as a one-day show of support for US troops.

"We're supporting the troops and telling politicians in Washington that it's time to end the war in Iraq," union president Bob McEllrath said.

Officials at the Port of Long Beach and Los Angeles, two of the biggest cargo terminals, said work had ground to a standstill.

"It amounts to a 'blue flu' or a 'May Day flu,' where longshore workers are calling in sick," spokesman Arley...